Public Opinion, Media Coverage, and Migration: Developing Strategies for Immigration and Integration Reforms (Council Statement)

In the controversial realm of immigration, producing groundbreaking and well thought-out ideas is not enough; policymakers must frame these ideas in a way that will resonate with voters and thus have a realistic chance of being implemented. Only through a deep understanding of public opinion on immigration can they do so. The goal of this Council meeting was to fortify policymakers and champions of reform by systematically analyzing public opinion and media coverage of migration across the Atlantic, and to hone in on strategies to advance immigration and integration reforms. 

To speak about immigration and integration reforms in a more effective way, language should be straightforward, unambiguous, and honest and rhetoric should acknowledge genuine public concerns, Politicans should appeal to values and emotion, not just recite statistics, and leaders need to be proactive rather than reactive. Finally, it is necessary to understand ambivalence and the role it plays in ongoing immigration discussions.